


I Should Be Fine

by izzybelledot



Series: Marinette Wayne [1]
Category: DCU, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Bashing, Angst, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Dark Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, F/M, Gen, Good Bro Tim Drake, Good Sibling Tim Drake, Healing, Heavy Angst, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Deserves Better, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Has a Hard Time, Not Adrien friendly, Panic Attacks, Psychological Trauma, Seriously this is angst, Sexual Harassment, Strong Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tim Drake Has Feelings, Trauma, i hate writtign this, if you're even remotely sensative id say pls dont read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:00:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25137319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izzybelledot/pseuds/izzybelledot
Summary: Healing/Trauma piece for Marinette, with Batfam.OKAYI wrote this piece, and it has the potential to be apart of a larger series, which I do have a basic (very basic) outline for. If enough people are actually interested in this I'll get to work finetuning my idea for it. But it would take a couple of weeks probably.So let me know what you think if you'd be interested in reading a longer work.
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Past Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Marinette Wayne [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868017
Comments: 19
Kudos: 414





	I Should Be Fine

Marinette couldn’t sleep. 

This wasn’t especially uncommon for her, she was actually about as bad with her sleep schedule as could be. She constantly found her mind simply too busy with thoughts and ideas and worried that she didn’t even want to think about sleeping. With every night she would find herself awake until the early morning hours her habits would become more heavily cemented. Nowadays she rarely slept more then three to five hours a night- if that. 

But this was different. 

She found herself feeling exhausted, wishing desperately to pass out on her bed. But she couldn’t stop thinking still, thinking about less than happy memories. 

Specifically, she was remembering Chat Noir. 

It didn’t matter if it was a happy memory, an uncomfortable one, or a terrifying one. Everything about him reminded her of when he nearly did _that. ___

__When he hadn’t stopped when she told him to when he had invaded her boundaries and her body. When he had told her that they were soulmates and he had been patient long enough that he deserved this. Deserved _her. _____

____Marinette shivered, shaking off the thought to the best of her ability._ _ _ _

____She had to stay busy, stay busy or her mind would return to _that. _____ _ _

______She sketched, tracing simple silhouettes and mixing them with more confusing and difficult patterns. She pushed herself, thinking of more adventurous and difficult stylistic choices. She filled out page after page after page of rubbish. It was important to save old work, even if it was trash. It might inspire future designs, or at the least remind her what not to do._ _ _ _ _ _

______Chat Noir had always-_ _ _ _ _ _

______Marinette threw her pencil, watching it clatter onto the floor with wet eyes. She just wanted to not think of that, but any time she started to get comfortable she would think of it._ _ _ _ _ _

______Any time she closed her eyes she saw his. Every brush of cloth against her leg reminded her of his wandering hands. Every time she stuck out her tongue to better concentrate she remembered him running his tongue over then shell of her ear. His clawed gloves, his voice, his fighting style, his puns._ _ _ _ _ _

______Everything hurt and it didn’t make sense._ _ _ _ _ _

______It had been months ago, she had moved on. She was happy actually, she had an amazing life! She had a real family, a new school, and she was miles away from Paris. _Hundreds _of miles away from Paris.___ _ _ _ _ _

________So why did she shake like a leaf in the wind?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________And why did it come upon her so randomly at that? Nothing had reminded her of him, she just found herself struggling not to remember it and it sucked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Marinette sighed, running a hand over her forehead in resignation. She clearly needed to take a breather, get some more coffee or something. She slipped the door open, pointedly not looking towards the dark shadows along the walls. She felt that she was being watched. Like she was being stalked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________But there was no one there, and she knew that. But she glanced back anyways, positioning her body so her back was facing the wall._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Come on, Marinette.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She peaked into the kitchen, finding only Tim awake at this hour. Which made sense since he actually had a reason to be awake, with a board meeting in two days. She was sure she looked like a wreck, hair pulled back into a craggy ponytail and light grey pajamas. “Couldn’t sleep?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Tim looked up at her, eye bags deep and purple and about the same as hers at this point. “Nah, who needs it anyway?” Then he frowned casting a suspicious glance to her empty hands. “Why are you awake?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Marinette cursed herself for leaving the sketchbook in her room. Whenever she would be up late designing she never abandoned it, just in case she thought of something later. Tonight she had left it since she was frustrated with her lack of focus, and Tim noticed. “Just thinking too much, got frustrated sketching.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Well, that’s true at least, if not a little misleading._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What were you thinking about?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Drat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Umm, you know,” Marinette shifted uncomfortably, finding a hot chocolate packet to dump into her coffee. “Stuff.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She didn’t need need to look behind her to know Tim was definitely suspicious now if he hadn’t been already. She truly was a horrible actress under pressure, especially when she was tired. “Stuff, huh?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yep,” She chuckled, not turning around. There was an uncomfortable silence, well uncomfortable for her anyways. Tim was most certainly using it to study her. “Fashion stuff,” She emphasized finally, and immediately cursed herself out again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________**Fashion stuff.** ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Marinette.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette spun around, not meeting his gaze but looking towards him at least. “Don’t wanna bore you with the details, you wouldn’t get it anyways. Just needed some coffee, what are you doing?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Tim raised an eyebrow at that, looking decidedly unamused by her efforts. Which was quite frankly rude, she hadn’t asked him to interrogate her. “Stuff,” He replied, pausing for a moment as realization dawned on her. “Work stuff.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________He gave her a small smirk, obviously enjoying himself. “Wouldn’t wanna bore you with the details.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Cool.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________They stood like that a moment, her awkward and unsure how she was going to survive. She had a couple of minutes left before the coffee pot went off, and she couldn’t very well just stare at him the entire time._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Tim sighed, knowing Marinette well enough that he knew he’d have to ask if he wanted to know. “Marinette, I don’t know what you’re dealing with exactly. You haven’t really opened up to anyone since you came here, and you are supposed to be healing you know?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette flinched at the reminder. Master Fu’s parting request be that she meet his friend ‘Alfred Pennyworth’ after the Akuma situation was handled. She hadn’t known that would mean being adopted by a billionaire vigilante because she was 'traumatized in more ways than one'- but here she was._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Apparently, it was normal for him, so his other children had taken it well. Remarkably well actually, most of them adopting her as their sister on the spot. Damian wasn't especially happy with the arrangement, but the other's had been sweet about it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I don’t have anything to heal from,” She replied finally, knowing that was utter bullshit. And she knew he knew it too, he could see past her thin walls. She had always_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Marinette, you’re trembling.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette looked down, finding her hands shaking against her sides. Well, that wasn’t good. “Oh.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Look, Marinette. You can’t heal unless you talk about it,” Tim reminded her, just like Bruce had said two days ago, and Dick two das before that. But tonight was different, tonight Marinette couldn’t sleep and she couldn’t stay awake with him haunting her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“And I can’t be okay if I think about it,” She admitted._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“That means you’ll never be okay. You need an outlet, need to stop bottling it up- or you’ll just remember it anyways, and for longer.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette bit her lip, wishing that she didn’t feel like crying. It felt so stupid to cry over this. She hadn’t been raped, she hadn’t been hurt. She was fine, yet she couldn’t sleep._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Tim-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I'm not saying it had to be me, but I’m here to listen. I’m-“ Tim paused, clearly considering his next words more carefully. “I’m your brother. I know it’s new, and we don’t have a history. But I’m your brother, and that’s gotta count for something, alright?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I was raised as an only child, Tim,” She reminded him, feeling bitter. “I never had someone to talk to until middle school.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I was an only child too until I got this family I might as well have been an orphan.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She looked up at him, feeling closer to him than before. She had known he had grown up rich and alone prior to meeting Bruce but hadn’t heard it put that way. Like he was like her. Finally, she sat across from him, still fighting with her hands._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I can’t stop thinking about…about Chat Noir.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Tim tilted his head inquisitively. “He was your ex-partner right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette hadn’t told them aching personal about the Paris situation. Just the facts, the risks, and the outcome. They knew about the miraculous of course, knew that Adrien had his miraculous revoked, but not the reason. “Yeah, he was my ex-partner. He…I don’t know.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Tim waited, and Marinette felt her hands shake for a moment. What was she doing anyway? She had no reason to be getting so emotional over this._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Hey,” Tim smiled, voice supportive. “You’re doing great. Take your time.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette took a breath, feeling the crushing pressure on her chest diminish if only a little._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“He was a good partner at first, encouraging and helpful. It’s just, he started flirting a lot, and it got in the way of our job. And I told him that, I swear I did! But he didn’t listen, and I had to watch him die, and had to fight against him so many times because of it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Already Tim looked a little angry, maybe he had heard a similar spiral start the same way? Maybe it reminded him of someone. But Marinette knew it wasn’t directed at her and wasn’t afraid._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“And then things got…worse. He-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette bit the inside of her check, unsure how to word it. How to explain it without blowing it out of proportion or making Tim think her of weak._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“It’s okay, Mari. Just say it as you think through it, the first words to come out are usually more truthful to your feelings,” Tim advised._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“He started telling me that he loved me, and I turned him down. But if I turned him down then he’d pout, and not help with the attacks.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette remembered the Siren incident quite clearly, Plagg had told her what had happened. “He just, wouldn’t help. Sometimes he’d try to beat it on his own, there were a few times that he didn’t even show up.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Did it get worse?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________She hesitated, shaking her head yes. She couldn’t look at him, picking at her nails to try to mask her still shaking hands. “He started…touching me more.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The air in the room seemed to be thick with static like electricity was stinging her and making her tongue swollen and heavy in her mouth._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Just, pulling me into hugs that were a little too touchy. Nothing I could say was on purpose, just a little too low, or a little too high, trying to kiss me. Then he started grabbing my arm when we were talking, telling everyone that we were dating. I denied it of course, but it just bothered me that he did it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette laughed bitterly, torn between being defensive and crumbling. “But that’s my fault I guess. It’s my fault for not stopping it before he-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“No. Marinette, look at me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Marinette glanced up at Tim, finding his eyes filled with so much pain that it made Marinette unable to look away. “Did you ever say you weren’t comfortable, or tell him to stop or let you go?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“Yes, but I never pushed him away consistently.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You shouldn’t have too,” Tim stated decisively. “If he wasn't respecting your boundaries enough that you would have to get physical for _any _reason then he had already gone too far.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Marinette blinked, unsure if that was something she could accept. Tim just smiled at her sadly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Did it get worse?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Yes,” Marinette admitted. “Not until a few months before Hawkmoth was defeated but yes. He was pushing for an identity reveal, and he would just- hold me? He’d pull me into his grasp and I’d push away but he’d just pull me back. Then he-“_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Tim frowned, laying his hand's palm up on the table. “Marinette, I think you need to breathe for a moment. Reach out and take my hand okay?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Marinette blinked at him in exhaustion, shakily extending her hands over his. “What?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Just, trust me. Can you feel my pulse?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She adjusted her grip, finding his pulse strong beneath her fingers. It was steady, rhythmic, and predictable. “Yes.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Okay, I need you to look at me now. Just look up and focus on me, okay sweetheart?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Marinette nodded, finding his eyes looking at her calmly. “Okay, you’re gonna breathe with me, alright?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Tim took a deep, exaggerated breath, inhaling for seven seconds, and pausing for a moment before exhaling for eight seconds. “Alright, we’re gonna do that again. Is that alright with you, sweetheart?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Yes,” Marinette breathed out, clutching his hands now more desperately. She hadn’t noticed how frenzied her breathing was before, now it scared her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Okay, breathe in.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Tim lead her through her breathing a few more times, and Marionette’s own breathing slowed a little more each time. Finally, she was calm enough to feel embarrassed for her break down. She was clutching his hands like a security blanket. The first time she tries to open up and she had a meltdown- wonderful._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She withdrew her hands, clutching them in her lap timely. “Sorry.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You have no reason to be sorry,” Tim told her, drawing his hands off the table. “Do you feel alright?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Um, yeah. Thanks.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Tim smiled at her reassuringly, only ducking his head a little to sneak into her line of vision. “Do you want to keep talking about it? We can stop.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“N-no,” She blurted out, eyes wide. She blushed in embarrassment, before quieting her voice. “Please, can we continue?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Tim’s heart ached for his sister, wishing to protect her from the world. She obviously hadn’t been given a consistent listening ear on top of her trauma. “Of course.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Marinette took a deep breath, turning her eyes back to her nails. “He started pushing more for an identity reveal and... well our suits don't come off normally, but he just grabbed me through the suit. I didn't stop him, I just- I didn't know what to do. I _froze _and then he was trying to make me touch _him- _”_____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Marinette felt her chest clench painfully, before lightening a bit more than before. It hurt to say it, but it made it easier to breathe. She felt like she could finally _breathe- _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________“I took his miraculous after that. But I never told him who I was, and he said some more offensive stuff for that, but it’s over. It’s over and done, and it shouldn’t bother me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________She chuckled dryly, eyes hollow as her nervous energy seems to drain instantly. “He never actually could do _that, _I never actually really punched him or anything. I should have, but I didn’t. It’s not _that _so I’m fine. No bare skin happened, I should be fine.”_____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Tim made a noise in his throat, a clear prompt for her to look up at him. “Marinette, you’re not fine” His voice was sympathetic but not pitiful. “And that’s okay. You don’t have to be.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________“I don’t?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Tim shook his head sadly, laying his hands palms up on the table once more. This time Marinette laid her hands in them without prompting, allowing herself to draw comfort from her brother. “He sexually harassed you, literally groped you without consent, and probably would have gone farther if you didn’t take the ring. Most people aren’t okay after something like that. Just because he didn’t do _that _to you doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to be traumatized.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Marinette dimly realized the coffee pot had turned off awhile ago, that she had been sitting here for half an hour. But Marinette was exhausted, and she noticed that Tim’s computer had long since shut off. “Tim, I’m so tired.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________“I know. I am too, baby sister.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________He squeezed her hand twice before letting go, standing and gesturing toward the door to the living room. “I’ll cue up The Greatest Showman, you grab a blanket.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Marinette found herself smiling, one of her first real honest smiles towards her brother. “Sounds perfect.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________When the rest of the family woke up to find Tim and Marinette leaning against each other in deep sleep they had to take countless pictures. But seeing the deep shadows under their eyes had the good sense not to disturb them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________Still, no one missed that Marinette looked more relaxed than she ever had since they met her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
